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Nintendo Confirms Free Online Play For Wii
Via Gamasutra, an interview in USA Today with Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime confirms that the Wii's online component will be free to play. The outspoken Nintendo advocate says "We will offer online-enabled games that the consumers will not have to pay a subscription fee for. They'll be able to enjoy that right out of the box. The Wii console is going to be Wi-Fi enabled, so essentially, you'll be able to plug it in and go. It won't have hidden fees or costs."
Let's make something clear though - the highly anticipated Virtual Console (which is able to download and play NES/Genesis/SNES/N64 games) will not be free. The pricing hasn't been released yet, but current estimates are $5 to $10 for a game. I would also hope that browsing these games would be free as well (unlike Xbox Live Arcade, where you must first pay for XBL and then pay again for XBLA games)
This announcement is for games like Mario Kart Wii or (please God let this be true) Super Smash Brothers Wii. Those games will be free, and that's what Reggie was talking about.
While Wifi Connection is nice, the Friend Code system is a real pain. Hopefully they won't continue this model for the Wii.
The advantage of Xbox Live, from what I've seen, is standardization and support. I deserve a higher level of service when I pay rather than get it free...and Live has generally delivered. I don't ever remember having Live downtime in serious quantities (*cough* Blizzard *cough*), and it seems like the games on Live have strong SOPs relative to what I saw on the PS2, which is the main competition online for the XBox in the current gen. Much better to do the networking backbone on the console level, rather than force each developer to support it individually.
Look at the difference between MMO and FPS online in PC games: typical FPS online is a central tracker linking to individually-hosted games, which little control over gametypes, the server's abilities, or matching players together. Extra content is sporatic, user-driven or pay-for-episodes. Third-party services like Gamespy and whatnot are available on the PC, but are unlikely on consoles. MMOs, on the other hand, provide robust, persistent networking and chat features and continued support in the form of new content. Making new content is economical because there's a continuing revenue stream from the player - this seems, to me, critical to encourage game developers to revisit their creations and create new content in existing, already-developed engines (and micropayment schemes may or may not subsitute for subscription fees).
Of course, all speculation above; we haven't seen what large-scale, free service looks like in either Sony or Nintendo's case (though as I said, Wifi Connection is promising on the bare-bones level). They may be able to deliver, but I'm skeptical that it will be as robust as what Live offers.
In accordance with E.O. 12958, this post is marked Unclassified.
I thought that you could browse and purchase anything available in the marketplace with an Xbox Live Silver account? Yep, I was right. From xbox.com:
Easy to Try
Silver-level access is free of charge for all Xbox 360 owners (except those who have previously been banned from Xbox Live and Korean users under the age of 14)--there's no reason not to try it, even if you're just the slightest bit curious. It's an instant membership that's only a few clicks away. (Note that there is a limit to the number of Silver level signups per console.)
Xbox Live Arcade and Marketplace
You'll find the the Xbox Live Arcade in the Marketplace, where you can purchase great casual arcade games like the classic Galaga or the smash hit Bejeweled. Just download them to Xbox 360, and they're yours to play again and again. They're perfect for casual gamers or anyone who loves great game play.
So you DO NOT need a Gold account to purchase Xbox arcade games from the marketplace, just to play multiplayer. That makes sense. With respect to browsing and purchasing arcade games, the Xbox and Wii on-line service looks indentical. You will pay to play on-line with Xbox Live though.
Hate to pour a bucket of cold water on the Nintendo love (I feel it too), but free online gaming is not in any way special. Like, totally free if you have a PC, forget the $200 for the console and $50 for the game. Yahoo Games for casual folk. Weird indie stuff like the Google Maps RTS and MMO asteroids. Tons of demos (I'm playing the Sword of the Stars demo right now, it's ace and has free online). Enemy Territory, Nexuiz and now FEAR:Combat for the FPSers.
When you do at as far as paying for PC games, the online is free for everything except some MMOs. Plus, every console except the xbox has free online. DS, PSP, PS2, Cube (just 1 game), Dreamcast and quite a few older modem-optional consoles.
My point here is that the xbox/360 are freak gaming systems where you pay for online - on everything else you don't, so that can't have been keeping you or anyone else away from consoles before now.
It just so happens that a lot of the more mature people on Xbox Live don't tend to play as many public games, but play more with friends in private games. There are even communities of people (like 2Old2Play where you can find lots of people to add to your XBL friends list so you always have people to play with. I spend most of my online gaming time with friends instead of in public games, and I've had a ton of fun.
:)
And all the foul-mouthed kids are driving their reputations down and having more trouble finding games to play in now.
There are even some games - such as Chromehounds - that you don't even have to worry about communicating with your opponents, before, during, or after the game. No chance to get verbally assaulted.
"You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
There's a Burnout for the DS, so you might be in luck.
I can't help it that you're stupid enough to listen to me! I'm an idiot!
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I'm not crazy -- this was already confirmed during E3: E306: Wii WiFi To Use Those Stupid @$#!ing Friend Codes
As an MBA student having just studied the rise of the video game industry in the late 80s, lead by Nintendo, this article makes perfect strategic sense for Nintendo. The industry then was catagorized by "Demand Side Increasing Returns." Rather than the typical increasing returns created on the supply side by economies of scale or scope, demand side increasing returns occur through network effects. When there is a large installed user or support base for a product in a category such as this, there is a large incentive for consumers new consumers to purchase from the established player rather than from new entrants. Just like what Microsoft has done with the OS (not implying Nintendo is like Microsoft, but their strategies are similar in this regard).
This demand side increasing returns effect is only magnified by the current environment. By significantly innovating in the category and undercutting the competition on up-front costs, Nintento is set to build a substantial user base very quickly. This user base will feed upon itself with the free internet access, as this will draw many players who will have to purchase a Wii to play with other players online. Nintendo wins in the end because their licensing agreements for game development and production are very favorable, giving them a substantial fraction (20% or more historically) of game sales. They will quickly recover any loss or marginal profit on providing a cheap console with free network access through game consumption. And consumers won't complain because we are quite happy to spend $400 on games spread out over several years when we only feel it in small chunks as we periodically purchase new games.
I'd buy Nintento stock if it hadn't allready skyrocketed.
because it actually isn't random ... all games use a common match making system to match you against players of equal caliber.
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http://research.microsoft.com/displayArticle.aspx
Don't get your hopes up. Nintendo has to approve you before you get a devkit, which means you have to have the financial ability to make a game, the talent and staff to do it and probably a good idea (unless your a proven developer) If you think that you could make the cut, check out their official site:
http://warioworld.com/
and more specifically http://warioworld.com/apply/wii.html
And this is nothing new by the way, its been the same for all their consoles. However they seem to be more interested in indie companies this generation. I quote, "Keep in mind that we typically look for companies that are established game developers."
Network encryption on the DS is done in software, not hardware. Each title comes with its own code for managing the wifi connection.
The developers of Mario Kart DS were not able to implement anything more secure than WEP in that title without affecting playability. So that game does not support WPA and never will. It's not unreasonable, though, that later titles, once devs learn to make better use of the system -- or titles like the Opera browser in which frame-perfect network synchronization is not as critical -- may support additional forms of encryption.
Myself, I just locked down my wireless router to require WEP and only accept traffic from the MAC addresses of the wireless gear I own. It seems a fair compromise eto me.
If you don't want to hook up Wii-reless (sorry, couldn't resist), the Wii will support a USB-to-network attachment so you can go the wired route.
Iwata said something else:
"When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns